{"id":209294,"date":"2022-04-13T16:57:25","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T23:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=209294"},"modified":"2022-04-13T17:27:10","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T00:27:10","slug":"grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/","title":{"rendered":"Grants Pass Downs, Oregon\u2019s Last Racetrack Cancels 2022 Meet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grants Pass Downs, Oregon\u2019s last surviving commercial thoroughbred racetrack, has canceled its race meet for 2022.<\/p>\n

\"Grants
Racing at Grants Pass Downs has been canceled for 2022 after Oregon\u2019s governor pressurized regulators to torpedo its application for HHR machines. (Image: New York Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The track cited a recent decision by the state racing regulator to deny its application for 225 historical horse racing (HHR) machines at its new entertainment center, the Flying Lark.<\/p>\n

Dutch Bros Coffee magnate and local boy Travis Boersma acquired Grants Pass Downs in 2019. He hoped to fund the upkeep of the track and finance race purses with profits from the adjacent Flying Lark, envisaged as a dining, drinking, and gambling establishment.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t to be. The Oregon Racing Commission (ORC) reluctantly nixed the application in February, leaving itself with precious little racing to regulate.<\/p>\n

Gov. Brown Pressure<\/strong><\/h2>\n

HHR machines let gamblers bet on replays of past races with the identities of those races obscured. They have been legal at Oregon racetracks since 2012. That\u2019s\u00a0because they broadly use the pari-mutuel betting system.<\/p>\n

But earlier this year, the Oregon DOJ\u00a0issued an opinion<\/a>\u00a0that HHR machines were more like slots and lottery games than the pari-mutuel horse race betting permitted at racetracks.<\/p>\n

The agency said than no more 75 HHRs should be allowed at any one venue. Otherwise, it would violate the state ban on casinos. Currently, only Native American tribes are permitted to offer casino gaming in Oregon under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.<\/p>\n

\n

In a letter dated February 16, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) told the ORC board it would be more than their jobs were worth to vote against \u201cany action inconsistent with the law, as interpreted\u00a0by the Oregon Department of Justice.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAs a result of the Oregon Racing Commission’s vote to deny an operating license to The Flying Lark, Grants Pass Downs has lost its economic engine,\u201d said Travis Boersma in a statement this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we remained hopeful we would be able to host a viable race meet, the uncertainty here and across the industry has resulted in a drastic reduction of race horses at Grants Pass Downs,” he added. “At this point, it’s clear running the meet isn’t feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Job Losses<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is a far cry from Boersma\u2019s stated ambition of transforming his hometown into a national epicenter of racing. The cancellation of the 2022 calendar will lead to the loss of around 50 jobs. He has already said he will have to let more than 200 workers go at the Flying Lark.<\/p>\n

Boersma blamed the \u201cstate and its leadership’s lack of understanding of, and appreciation for, the equine industry and the needs of rural Oregon\u201d for the track\u2019s predicament. He has hinted that he may pursue the matter through the courts.<\/p>\n

Gov. Brown\u2019s hand may have been forced by a coalition of local tribes<\/a> that demanded she rigorously examine Boersma\u2019s plans, arguing they would \u201cfundamentally alter gambling in the state to the detriment of tribal casinos.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grants Pass Downs, Oregon\u2019s last surviving commercial thoroughbred racetrack, has canceled its race meet for 2022. The track cited a recent decision by the state racing regulator to deny its application for 225 historical horse racing (HHR) machines at its new entertainment center, the Flying Lark. Dutch Bros Coffee magnate and local boy Travis Boersma […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":209295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14577,61,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGrants Pass Downs, Oregon\u2019s Last Racetrack Cancels 2022 Meet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Grants Pass Downs\u2019 Flying Lark lack of historical horse machines has led to the death of live thoroughbred racing in Oregon.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grants Pass Downs, Oregon\u2019s Last Racetrack Cancels 2022 Meet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Grants Pass Downs\u2019 Flying Lark lack of historical horse machines has led to the death of live thoroughbred racing in Oregon.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-13T23:57:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-14T00:27:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/grants-pass.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1097\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"609\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/\",\"name\":\"Grants Pass Downs, Oregon\u2019s Last Racetrack Cancels 2022 Meet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/grants-pass.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-13T23:57:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-14T00:27:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Grants Pass Downs\u2019 Flying Lark lack of historical horse machines has led to the death of live thoroughbred racing in Oregon.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/grants-pass.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/grants-pass.jpg\",\"width\":1097,\"height\":609,\"caption\":\"Racing at Grants Pass Downs has been canceled in 2022 after Oregon\u2019s governor pressurized regulators to torpedo its application for HHR machines. (Image: New York Times)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Horse Racing\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/horse-racing\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Grants Pass Downs, Oregon\u2019s Last Racetrack Cancels 2022 Meet\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Grants Pass Downs, Oregon\u2019s Last Racetrack Cancels 2022 Meet","description":"Grants Pass Downs\u2019 Flying Lark lack of historical horse machines has led to the death of live thoroughbred racing in Oregon.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Grants Pass Downs, Oregon\u2019s Last Racetrack Cancels 2022 Meet","og_description":"Grants Pass Downs\u2019 Flying Lark lack of historical horse machines has led to the death of live thoroughbred racing in Oregon.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-04-13T23:57:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-14T00:27:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1097,"height":609,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/grants-pass.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/","name":"Grants Pass Downs, Oregon\u2019s Last Racetrack Cancels 2022 Meet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/grants-pass.jpg","datePublished":"2022-04-13T23:57:25+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-14T00:27:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Grants Pass Downs\u2019 Flying Lark lack of historical horse machines has led to the death of live thoroughbred racing in Oregon.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/grants-pass.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/grants-pass.jpg","width":1097,"height":609,"caption":"Racing at Grants Pass Downs has been canceled in 2022 after Oregon\u2019s governor pressurized regulators to torpedo its application for HHR machines. (Image: New York Times)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/grants-pass-downs-oregons-last-racetrack-cancels-2022-meet\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Horse Racing","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/horse-racing\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Grants Pass Downs, Oregon\u2019s Last Racetrack Cancels 2022 Meet"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209294"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}